Freeze on loan threshold is 'broken promise', says BMA

Medical students are set to be affected by Government plans to freeze repayment rates on student loans at current rates until 2021. The BMA has warned that the decision to maintain the starting level of loan repayments at £21,000 means the Government has gone back on its word to students. The decision was made by chancellor George Osborne in his autumn statement, despite the coalition Government saying in 2010 that it would seek to increase the repayment threshold in line with average national earnings. BMA medical students committee deputy co-chair for finance Tom Rock, pictured, said: ‘In failing to increase the repayment threshold for graduates in line with inflation, the Government is breaking its own explicit promise that was partially made to justify trebling tuition fees to £12,000 per year. ‘This broken promise completely undermines the Government’s credibility on student finance.   'Financial disincentive' 'Many warned that the £12,000 fee system would return much less than the Government predicted. ‘The lesson from the autumn spending review is that when the Government get its sums wrong, it will break its word and graduates will be saddled with more debt and earn less when they start working. He added: ‘The Government needs to recognise that students are already taking on unprecedented debt, which many will never be able to repay. 'No bank would be allowed to vary loan terms the way the Government has. This...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news